A conventional inkjet printing system includes a printhead, an ink supply which supplies liquid ink to the printhead, and an electronic controller which controls the printhead. The printhead ejects ink drops through a plurality of orifices or nozzles and toward a print medium, such as a sheet of paper, so as to print onto the print medium. Typically, the nozzles are arranged in one or more arrays such that properly sequenced ejection of ink from the nozzles causes characters or other images to be printed upon the print medium as the printhead and the print medium are moved relative to each other.
In one arrangement, commonly referred to as a wide-array inkjet printing system, a plurality of individual printheads, also referred to as printhead dies, are mounted on a single carrier. As such, a number of nozzles and, therefore, an overall number of ink drops which can be ejected per second is increased. Since the overall number of ink drops which can be ejected per second is increased, printing speed can be increased with the wide-array inkjet printing system.
During filling and/or operation of the printhead, air may accumulate within the printhead. For example, as the printhead is filled with liquid ink, displaced air will exist. In addition, with different orientations of the printhead, the internal geometry of the printhead may create dead zones within the printhead where air can become trapped. Unfortunately, the accumulation of air within the printhead may adversely effect operation of the printhead.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.